Power-operated beet harvesting device



Sept. 8, 1953 J. w. oRENDoRr-F POWER-OPERATED BET HARVESTING DEVICEFiled Aug. 17, 194e 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 mum w 7 v KN @W Q Wm, um) Nb mum,m1 WW 'wmv U o w WNW WW o n .m o n.W\N\ NN, mDNlmvm Km .Km bw .NNW g NNNRM mmm W WW m@ BN. mw, .mlm wm WnN mNi Sept. 8, 1953 J. w. oRr-:NDoRFF2,651,155

P OWER-OPERATD BEET HARVESTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 17. 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed Aug. 17, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Sept 8, 1953 J. w. oRENDoRr-F2,651,155 v POWER-OPERATED BEET HARVESTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 17, 1946 6Sheets-Sheet 4 Sept. 8, 1953 J. w. ORENDORFF 2,651,155 POWER-@PERATEDBEET HARVEST'ING DEVICE 'Filed Aug. 17, 194e v 1` les sheets-sheet 5 JPme. /L-Q Sept 3, 1953 l J. w. oRENDoRFF 2,651,155

POWER-OPERATED BEET HARVESTING DEVICE Patented Sept. 8, 1953POWERLOPERATED BEET HfARVESTI-NG DEVICEI J ohnl W.. 0..'remiorif,Canton,y I ll., assis-nor to, In.-

ternational. Hanvester Campana. a. corporation.

of `New Jersey- Anillioationnugust; 1-7, 194.6,cSeria1 No... 6.91,l=.&&

This, insertion relates. to. agricultural., im.-x

plements, andparticular1v-toi-harvesters tot root., crops sucht as.beets and. the; like.

a beet. harvesting Inachinel incorporating, many. of. the.- elements.-of themachineof. the present in,- ventionis shown and described. in,United. States. Patent No.. m4585795; which. includes a. rotaryy knife.for severing the1 tops,Y of the beets project-- ing; abGvethe-.gr-Qund;digging blades for loosen-- ingand removing the: beets from.. beneath.the surf-aca ofthe. ground, a. cleaningmechanismfor loosening dirtadhering` to the; beets. and.. anelevating conveyor, arrangedrearwardly` of the digger and-'cleaneror. shaker to receive thev beetsandv elevate: them. to; a. Qosition for disc-margel into a receptacle,Vv

Prior to the advent ofmachineryfor the. harvesting of.` sugar beets,vthe. digging thereof andfloadingy-mtovehicles; for transportation wereperformed; largelyby hand, and, in: manyl areas manual harvesting isstill largelt7 practiced. This is due in large. part to: the failure ofvmachinery so: far developed to; satisfactorily per-torni; theharvestingY functions, For example; the failure of.' machines toproper-ivf remove the tops; from beets; of varying size hasl inducedmany.- grower-s tofresort-to handtopping: 'Ehisisoffcourse slow andcostly. A-fter the beets. are dug` they are` usually left? upon the.-glound andlater removed by gathering machinery; 12nesimultaneousgathering of largequantitiesy oi s oil; andi removal thereofwith.consequentv depletion. of the land is one ofv the; evils attendant;uponv this.. method of operation and the avoidance; ofi` which; is oneof the objects.- off' this invention. Beine ai. root; cropJ dirt;- andldebris. clingtoe the beets', and this is; para ticularly soY if thegroundi iswet..

The result` is. that, by the methods; andf. appa: ratusfpreviously4employed. a. large. amount. of dirt and debris not onlyl is. removed.from they eld but finds its iva-y into. eachload delivered to theprocessing plants. The Vhigher the percentage oli' dirt-in the: load.the lowehis. the; net return tov the grower so. that he not'- only losesthe soil vliront his imm. but'- he also suitors: a loss in. the

veyingthem: to: arecentanlc where the dirt and Aal) 2.. debris.. areseparated. therefrom. and. discharged upon.- the.. ground..

Another. object.. oi the invention is. tor gravide improvedmachinery forharvesting beets andI the like, including mechanism forl removing dirtand debrisfrom the. beets. prior to their delivery to a. receptacle.

A. further object of the. invention. isto provide an improved,tractor-mounted. beet. harvester.

Other obietsand advantages. Willbecorneclear froml the. following.detailed'. description.. when read. inv conjunction. with.. theaccompanying drawings,` wherein:

Figure. 1. is. a view. inside elevation. of. a, tractor with one.. rearwheel removed., showing. a beet harvester embodying the teatures of thepresent invention. attachedL thereto.;

Elsene 2.l is. a. continuation. of. Figure 1 with parts removedY forclarity., and. shows the upper. end. of the elevator and its.vrelationship to. the cartV attachedv to. the.. near, end of. the tractorto receive, harvested. vegetables Eisure. 3.. is. a view insideelevation similar to Figure. 13,. showing only the. rear, portion of thetractor with the implement parts in raised posi,- tion ;4

Figure. 4 is a. .plan view of. theV combination cleaner and, conveyorwhich delivers the beets to the. elevator;i

Figureis a side elevation. of the cleaner showing thel drivingmechanism. therefor andvits connection. to the elevator.;

Figure. 6.' is an.. enlarged. detail. partly in section showingthelatchina mechanism.. for. releasablv holdingN the. Sorting, conveyoroperating posi,-

' tionon. the cart or receptacle.;

YFigure '7A isJ a pleriview. of the structure. shown inFieure 2;. and'Fieure. is arear elevation of. the cart.

Referring. to the, drawings,` numeral It designates thelongitudinallyextending body of. atractor having4 front wheels I I a transverse rearaXle l2, and' rear wheels I3. The. front. Wheels Il, are 'st-eerabl'efrom a steerinemechenism. indicatedat I4 accessible to the operatorsstation L5..

Prior to separati-on of." the beets, from. the. soil andgathering them.in the; cart attached tothe rear end. of' the tractor, the. beets aretopped; that. is,. the foliage growing-from' the topof the beet.. is.severed and removed. This is accomplished by. a, mechanism. shown.attached to the front, end, of.; the.V tractor. generally indicated bythe numeral. 1.6.- and. including; a: feelergauee` il andy a. revolving;disk; l8r. Eorr the details of oonstruction ofthebeet-tonner;reference-.maybe had to United States Patent No. 2,458,795. The toppingmechanism is supported upon a transverse tool bar I9 aixed to a plate 28secured to the side of the tractor. The gauge l1 is adjusted withrespect to the cutter disk by a mechanism including an arm 2l mountedupon a transverse shaft 22. A rod 23 connected to arm 21 has its otherend connected to a lever 24 pivoted upon a quadrant 25 mounted upon thesteering gear standard 28.

After the tops have been removed from the beets, the beets are separatedfrom the ground by a digging mechanism generally indicated at 21. Thedigger includes digging blades 28 carriedby standards 29 supported atthe rear ends of a pair of vertically spaced parallel links 30 and 3LThe forward ends of the links are pivotally connected respectively tobrackets 32 and 33 alxed to a transverse tool bar 34 supported by abracket 35 mounted upon the side of the tractor. The upper parallel link3l has its rear end pivotally mounted in a bearing 35 to which isattached a link 31, the other end of which is connected to an arm 38secured to a transverse shaft 39. Shaft 39 is supported by one or morebrackets 48 attached to the side of the tractor. Shaft 39 extendstransversely of the tractor and to the other side thereof, and isprovided at its other end with an arm 4I indicated in dotted lines inFigure 3.

Referring particularly to Figure 3, it will be noted that shaft 39 and,therefore, arms 38 and 4i mounted thereon are rocked in a generallyforward and rearward direction by a power lift mechanism including ahydraulic cylinder 42 anchored at one end upon a bracket 43 secured tothe housing 44 for the rear axle i2. Housings i4 extend laterally fromthe tractor body in the manner indicated in Figure 1. Cylinder 42 has apiston rod 45 connected to the arm 4| to effect forward and rearwardrocking movement thereof. The cylinder 42 is preferably a double-actinghydraulic cylinder receiving fluid under pressure from an oil pumpindicated at 45, deriving power in a manner not shown for the operationthereof from the tractor power plant.

In Figure 1 it will also be observed that a link in the form of atelescopingmember 41 includes a sleeve 48 attached to the arm 38 and ashaft 49 attached to an arm 50 affixed to the transverse shaft 22. Shaft49 is also provided with a collar I for abutment against the end ofsleeve 48. Rocking of shaft 22, by movement of arm 58, causes thetopping mechanism to move vertically to and from operating position.This is accomplished by the hydraulic cylinder shown in Figure 3operating through arms 4I and 38 and transinitting motion through member41 to arm 50 secured to the shaft 22. It will also be noted that throughthe connection of link 31 with arm 38 the digging mechanism 21 willlikewise be moved vertically to and from operating positionsubstantially simultanouesly with movement of the topping mechanism.However, due to the telescoping of link member 41 and the position ofcollar 5I the topping mechanism I8 is permitted a limited amount of freefloating movement.

Y Upon separation of the beets from the soil by the digging mechanism21, they are carried upwardly due to the disposition and angle ofpenetration of the blades 28 and are received by a cleaner or agitatormechanism generally indicated at 52. In order to support the cleaner 52for movement to and from operating position, a bracket 53 is provided onthe rear of bearing 38, and secured to bracket 53 are arms 54, ShOWllFigures 3 and 5, the lower ends of which are pivotally connected to theforward ends of a pair of laterally spaced, longitudinally extendingplates 55 clearly shown in Figure 4. A spacer bar 58 is provided betweenthe plates at the lower portion thereof, and the plates are furtherspaced by transverse shafts 51, a number of which are situated atlongitudinally spaced points in the lower portion of plates 55, asclearly shown in the drawings. Between the plates 55, the shafts 51 areprovided with circumferentially spaced radially extending fingers 58,the fingers on adjacent shafts being interlaced to prevent contacttherebetween and to provide support for beets carried thereover. Fingers55a are provided on bar 56 which extend rearwardly beyond the rear-Vmost shaft 51 and prevent beets falling through between the cleaner andthe elevator. By driving the shafts 51 and thus causing the fingers 58to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure l, thebeets are carried rearwardly to an elevator hereinafter to be described.The shafts 51 are driven by a mechanism including a sprocket wheel 59,drivingly connected by a chain 60 to a sprocket El mounted upon atransverse shaft 62, rotatably mounted in the upwardly projecting end ofbracket 63 affixed to one of the plates 55. Another sprocket 84 mountedon shaft 52 is driven by a chain 65 trained around a sprocket 68 carriedby a shaft 81 mounted upon the side of the tractor. Shaft 61 alsocarries a larger sprocket 58 which is drivingly connected by a chain 69to a smaller sprocket 15 carried by a power take-off shaft 1l, driven bythe tractor power plant. Drive is thus transmitted from sprocket 1lthrough shafts 61 and 62 to sprocket 59 mounted upon one of the shafts51.

On the inner ends of each of the shafts 51 there are keyed sprockets 15(see Fig. 5) having trained therearound an endless chain 15. The uppercourse of chain 15 is maintained in engagement with the upper portion ofsprockets 15 by idler sprockets 11 on shafts 18 mounted upon the innerplate 55, one of the sprockets 11 being placed between each pair ofsprockets 15. The lower course of chain 16 is held out of contact withthe sprockets intermediate the end sprockets by another sprocket wheel19 on a stub shaft 89 rotatably mounted in an extension 8l projectingdownwardly from left-hand plate 55. Drive is thus transmitted fromsprocket 59 to sprockets 15 to rotate the shafts 51 in acounter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure l. The beets dug by theblades 28 and received by the agitator 52 are thus carried rearwardly bythe fingers 58, and it should be clear that the action of ngers 58 issuch that the beets will be bounced up and down or shaken as they areconveyed rearwardly, so that dirt adhering thereto is loosened and clodsare broken up. Agitator 52 .thus functions as a combined shaker andconveyor.

The beetsconveyed rearwardly by the shaker 52 are received by anelevator generally indicated at 82. Conveyor 82 includes laterallyspaced side walls 83, and a foraminated bottom 84 through which foreignmaterial may be passed as the beets are advanced by the elevator.Elevator 82 is secured to the sides 55 of the shaker 52 by laterallyspaced straps 85 secured to the outside of the side walls 83 and to thelaterally spaced side plates 55. The elevator 82 extends upwardly andrearwardly, and the lower end thereof and the rear end of the agitatorare suspended from the housing 44 between the utractor body and theright hand drive wheel and monarca 5l supported: by; laterally spacedlines; 8e., pivotedi upon'. a transverse. shaft 851s mountedi inbraoket.

8&1 affixed' to'.` mar.' axleA housing 443, Ilhese linkse 86.011opposites ofc the; elevatorY extend. downwardly;. and.' the lower ends.;thereon arev pivotaily connected. at; 8% to straps air forming a;cradle? in.'` which'Y theY elevator is. supported.. While: the?connection of straps 8 5.- to the! plates. 55? onagitator' 52 is.rigich. thef connection.l thereof' to'tliesiderwa'llss83of. theoonveyor'8f2= isa pivotal: one, the. straps: being; mounted! upon a. transf verseshaft fextending.: through; thezlower por-- tion: of the: side walls: 83ofY theconveyor.. The. shaft 911i is provided; with t1-sprocket Sil and:spaced sprockets; 825 which! serve; to drive: the elevating; mechanismy83, clearly shown in Figure 4', and includingl spaced transverse members94: toV which are.V secured outwardly projecting. iin` gers 95. The endsof` members. 94 are@ carried? upon laterally spaced endless cha-ins- 86-trainedaround: sprockets.` 9-2 keyedtothe shaft 98 be` tween the walls83.. The upper ends of-"the chains 86- are trained. around sprockets 97mountedup.- on a transverse shaft 98n between. platest83= at their upperends` asshown in- Figure. 2-. In'. orden to transmit drive tofthecelevator mechanism,r an addtional sprocket'` 98- is' provided onthe: inner end of' the shaft 51 at, the rear of agitator 52s.Thissprocket is drivinglyv connected. by a chain- |U8 to the sprocket 9|on the'inner-endY ofV shaft 90.

The lower' portion of the elevator 82 is supe' ported` upon thetransverse. shaft 98:' for' pivotal: movement with respect thereto'.SuchV pivotal movement is imparted to the elevator by mechanismincluding laterally spacedA links.- |03, and of which is pivota-llyconnected, to each' side: of; the elevator4 82; These links extendforwardly.y and their forward ends,- are' connected; to' anv upwardlyextending arm |04 amxed to` the shaft' 87|. Arm Hilly is' connected by arod: H15 .to the lifting arm 38; so that' upon lifting'the beet: topper'i6, the. digger 2T. and; the agitator' the. rod |05 is movedforwardlm.rocking arm |84' in a. clockwise direction and swinging` elevator: 82aforwardly about its pivotv at.' 9.0.. The: lifting or the digger 21, ofcourse,.ca'rries.1with-v itA tl'iefront end of: agitator 527 and sincethe. digger' mechanism moves upwardlyand' forwardlyl` in an. are, theconveyor' mechanismv similarly'` movesy flor'- wardly.. Therefore,dueitov thepivotal'- mounting of link' 8B upon the shaft 81:', link.:swings for'- wardly carrying' the. lower' end.' of. the: elevatorforwardly therewith.

It should thus be clear thatA the elevatory not only swings forwardlyabout. its: pivot' 98' when the harvester parts arei lifted, but, alsohas imparted thereto a translational movement: in a generally forwarddirection, since the: pivot 89 also moves forwardly. This, is' of'course,A important when transporting' the' harvester inasmuch as theweightof` the elevator is more even- 1y distributed andY better carriedbyi their tractor if it is brought closer thereto;

Rearwardly of the elevator is positioned4 a wheel supported cart' whichincludes. a rectangular frame |06 supported' at opposite ends-2 by lat.-erally spaced ground wheels |81., a receptacle |08 having verticallyextending front' and rear walls H894 andA H8 and side walls H'I and H2;Side walls |89, H8 and' I|=Iv are providedwith inwardly inclined lowerportions terminating in spaced relation to provide an opening H3; in thebottoml of the receptacle. The. rear wall'` H2. of the. receptacle is.provided with. an. opening. LM

6'v tmthe opposite sides; off which. are secured rear:- ward extensions|:|5 f., Theextensions; M5 exitenda rearwardly and; upwardlyi and-3lprovide a; euidewiavffor. ani endlessfconveyor chain Irl-6gA the lower;endi ot whichv formsa bottomy for the re.-

ceptacleaandr allowsthe. passage of foreign Inatter therethrough;

Secured@ tot the,v forward side? or the frame |06 ishal triangular drawfra-ine- ||.1' braced by. a-.strap z M85 secured to; theJ draw frame andto. the receptaole.L |885. At' the: forwardly' extending apex of theetriangular draw frame 21 there is' pro,- vided. az coupling. H8 ofconventional for-m for' pivotal, attachment i to a draw-bar |28:connectedmathe tractor. .Dra-w-bar l-20.is.=secured to they tractor. andbraced. by;l astrap. |2.|:..

As conventional. power take-o. shaft LZ2-f is'. connectedJoyI a.universal coupling |.2-,34 to a. shaft' IMS connectedby a universaljoint |.:25to ashaft' I1|.mounted,.upon theframe. |08, through'- which`drive is transmitted by' suitable sprocket and chain, mechanismindicated at |-2,| tooperatethe conveyor' chain HiB,

Figure: 2.- of. thedrawings, shows only the-upper end of.. therearwardlyandL upwardly extending elevating conveyor 82, the connection. thereof,to,` the. tractorbeing eliminated. for the sake of clarity.` FigureA 2shows thev position the ele-- vator. occupies withrespect to= the beet,cart so: that beets discharged from .the elevator are. defposited inthe, receptacle. uponi the chain` e011.-- veyor. H8... In actual.practice the. receptacle is.A iilledwith beets. as it travels acrossa.iieldfandl theconveyor chain |,L6 isnot operated. until the endof a..rowisv reached. Operationof the conveyor H6, then functions.. to unload thebeets. from the beetcart and! convevthem to. vehicles. fortransportation. to. their destination..

.Inipassing through normally relativelyr dry soil=` conditions thebeets, which have been. discharged. by the elevator 82 into. theheetcartarerelatively free from dirt adhering thereto.. Howevenwhenpassing. through moist, soil the. dislodging of dirt clinging` to the`beets. isf more diicult and provisionhas been made to prevent thecollection. of large. amounts4 of dirt4 with; the beets. inV the cartprior to unloading.,

Mountedupon a frame. member |28 is-an endlessbeltconvevor L29.- suitablydriven by. mechanism.. indicated at` I3llfromy one. of the ground`wheels HL'LA Frame |28. includes, an extension, |,3l whichextendsapproximately at rightangles away from. one end. of. the frame;3.28-, as clearly. shown nFigure 2-. The lower end ofA the.extensionframe lg3d` isseouredto. a. shaft |32., the ends of whichare.pivotally mounted in lugs. L33. aillxedv to` the, rear wall H0, of.the.. spectacle.. Likewise secured, to the shaft. |d2,.as by welding,are rearwardly and. downwardly curvedV arms. |34., to the end of whichis. connected one end` of. a spring I3,5 the other. end. of which. isanchored tojalug .135r4 aflixed.. to. ther inwardly inclined` lowerportion of. the, wal-1l |.I|l.`

The. conveyor belt |29 is narrower in. width than the opening in the.receptacle. The belt spans. this. opening, from front tol rear thereofand. the` entire assembly is. pivotable about the shaft |32V as. anaxis, so thatv the belt can be swung outwardly in, the manner indicatedin dotted lines in Figure, 2. The forward end of frame. |.28-isreleasably. fastened, tothe receptacle by a. latchng, mechanism.shownin. Figure 6 in,- cludihg, a member |f3.| engageable by al springbiased latch |38- pivoted upon. the receptaclel When; they belt E29spans. the. opening; in. the top of the receptacle, it is in position toreceive beets' belt assembly has been caused to pivot about aV pointbelow its rear end so that the belt is swung in a long arc away from theelevator 82 when it is desired to move it to an inoperative position.

Beets discharged upon the belt |29 are carried therealong and sorted byoperators standing upon platforms |39 and |40. The operators are thus inposition to remove dirt clinging to the beets prior to dropping thebeets into the receptacle. Dirt removed from the beets isA carried alongby the conveyor belt |29 and discharged from the rear end thereof. Thedirt is thus returned to the soil in approximately the location fromwhich it was withdrawn. When the beet car is again passing throughcomparatively dry soil so that sorting becomes unnecessary, the latch|38 holding the belt assembly in operating position is released and thesorting conveyor |29 is swung outwardly away from the receptacle to aninoperative position where the discharge of beets into the receptacle isnot interfered with.

It is believed that the operation of the beet harvester of the presentinvention will be clear from the foregoing description. Sugar beetsharvested by the method andV apparatus described have had their topscleanly and evenly removed and do not again touch the ground from thetime they are dug until they are delivered to the processing plant orother destination. Moreover, the beets are singularly free from dirt anddebris so that the grower receives a maximum return from his product.`Having described the invention it may, of course, be understood thatmodications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. In a power operated harvesting machine for beets and the likeincluding a wheeled supporting frame and topping mechanism for removingthe foliage from the beet, digging mechanism for lifting the beets fromthe soil mounted upon the frame for movement with respect thereto, anelevator for the beets mounted on the frame rearwardly of the diggermechanism for movement with respect to the frame, a beet cleaning devicebetween the digger mechanism and the elevator to receive the beetsremoved by the digger, rei move surplus dirt and debris therefrom andde1 liver them to the elevator, a receptacle positioned rearwardly ofthe elevator and below the upper end thereof to receive by gravity thebeets with the accompanying dirt and debris discharged by the elevator,and a generally horizontal traveling sorting conveyor in the path ofmaterial discharged by gravity from the elevator and extending to alocation outside of the receptacle, whereby beets may be removed fromthe conveyor by hand and deposited in the receptacle while the dirt anddebris is carried by the conveyor over the side of the receptacle anddeposited on the ground, said sorting conveyor being swingable bodily toa position out of the path of material discharged from the elevator topermit discharge thereof directly into the receptacle.

2. In a power operated harvesting machine for beets and the likeincluding a wheeled supporting frame and topping mechanism for removingthe foliage from the beet, digging mechanism for lifting the beets fromthe` soil mounted upon the frame for movement with respect thereto, anelevator for the beets mounted on the frame rearwardly of the diggermechanism for movement with respect to the frame, a beet cleaning devicebetween the digger mechanism and the elevator to receive the beetsremoved by the digger, remove surplus dirt and debris therefrom anddeliver them to the elevator, a wheeled ve-- hicle connected to themachine rearwardly of the elevator, including a receptacle verticallybelow and in the path of material discharged by gravity from theelevator, and a sorting platform carried by the vehicle and swingablebetween positions in and out of the path of material discharged bygravity from the elevator.

3. In a power operated harvesting machine for beets and the likeincluding a wheeled supporting frame and topping mechanism for removingthe foliage from the beet, digging mechanism for lifting the beets fromthe soil mounted upon the frame for movement with respect thereto, anelevator for the beets mounted on the frame rearwardly of the diggermechanism for movement with respect to the frame, a beet cleaning devicebetween the digger mechanism and the elevator to receive the beetsremoved by the digger, remove surplus dirt and debris therefrom anddeliver them to the elevator, a wheeled vehicle connected to the machinerearwardly of the elevator, including a receptacle vertically below andin the path of material discharged from the elevator, a sorting platformcarried by the vehicle and swingable between positions in and out of thepath of material discharged from the elevator, whereby the beets may, ifdesired, be sorted from the dirt and debris and the beets deposited inthe receptacle, an elevator associated with the vehicle for unloadingbeets therefrom, and means deriving power from the machine for drivingthe latter elevator.

4. In combination with a tractor having an elongated body, dirigiblefront wheels, laterally spaced rear wheels and a rear axle housinghaving at least one lateral extension, a harvesting mechanism for beetsand the like comprising digging mechanism for lifting the beets from thesoil and mounted at the side of the tractor i'or vertical movement withrespect thereto in a plane at the side of and parallel to the tractorbody between the body and the adjacent rear wheel, an elevatorrearwardly of said axle housing in general alinement with the diggingmechanism, means suspending the lower end of the elevator from saidlateral extension for movement with respect thereto, and a combinationcleaner and conveyor below said lateral extension between the digger andelevator to receive the beets frornL the digger, remove dirt and debristherefrom and deliver them to the elevator, said cleaner being pivotallyconnected at its forward end to the digger mechanism and at its rear endto the elevator for movement therewith, and power means connected to thedigger and the elevator for eifccting movement thereof.

5. In combination with a tractor having an elongated body, dirigiblefront wheels, laterally spaced rear wheels and a rear axle housinghaving at least one lateral extension, a harvesting mechanism for beetsand the like comprising digging mechanism for lifting the beets from thesoil and mounted at the side of the tractor for vertical movement withrespect thereto in a plane at the side of and parallel to the tractorbody between the body and the adjacent rear wheel, an elevatorrearwardly of said axle housing in general alinement with the diggingmechanism, means suspending the lower end of the elevator from saidlateral extension for movement with respect thereto, and a combinationcleaner and conveyor below said lateral extension between the digger andelevator to receive the beets from the digger, remove dirt and debristherefrom and deliver them to the elevator, said cleaner comprisinglaterally spaced frame members pivotally connected at one end to thedigger mechanism and at the other end to the elevator for movementtherewith, longitudinally spaced rollers having ends journaled in saidframe members and radially projecting lingers, means deriving power fromthe tractor for driving said rollers, and a driving connection betweenthe rollers and the elevator to drive the latter.

JOHN W. ORENDORFF.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number5 1,164,163 1,343,586 1,480,354 1,487,273 1,651,642 1,663,257 2,191,3222,338,337 2,379,198 2,447,399 2,453,714

Number Name Date Blair Dec. 14, 1915 Sang June 15', 1920 Wardell Jan. 8,1924 Sang Mar. 18, 1924 Staneld Dec. 6, 1927 MacKenzie Mar. 20, 192'8Matthews Feb. 20, 1940 Kerr Jan. 4, 1944 Templeton June 26, 1945 DeyAug. 17, 1948 Lapointe Nov. 16, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Country DateGermany Sept. 21, 1927 France June 26, 1928 France July 10, 1939

